ABSOLUTE ASCENDANCY
BUILD STRENGTH - ELIMINATE WEAKNESS - UNLEASH POTENTIAL
Chronicles of the Overlord – Geek Retreat Addlestone
Commencing operation . . .
Overview
This past weekend I had the pleasure of attending Geek Retreat Addlestone’s official store opening!
Saturday
I dressed up in my Overlord Cosplay again for this event. The store was packed full of action when I arrived, which was great to see.
I grabbed my free milkshake for being in cosplay and then went over to where Winston Harris from Syeknom Games was showing off his game, Battle for the Island.
Battle for the Island
It’s always cool to meet another board game developer and I was keen to get stuck into a game of Battle for the Island. Winston explained the rules succinctly in around ten or so minutes, and then me and my friend were straight into playing. While most of the rules are simplistic and easy to learn, I very quickly realised that this game had some seriously in depth strategy to it, very much akin to chess in that regard, but with a chance element included.
I could not find a single flaw in the gameplay mechanics. There was a rule about crossfire that thematically did not make sense to me, but I understood why the rule worked the way it did from a game play perspective. It is true that some of the artwork and graphics could be improved upon to bolster the look and feel of the experience, but I would much rather play a game with solid mechanics and basic art rather than play a game that graphically looks amazing but the gameplay is poor.
I was hooked from the get go. I had been looking for a highly strategic two player board game that lasts about an hour (20-60 mins) and I found it in Battle for the Island. I lost the first game but got my revenge in the rematch and shortly afterwards, purchased my copy.
If you want to learn more about the game and/or purchase a copy, please visit Sykenom Games.
We took a breather and then played through a couple of other board games courtesy of the extensive board game library that the store has on offer for people to play FOR FREE. I was humbled to learn that the majority of the board game collection belonged to Mark, one of the store owners who generously decided to lend his vast assortment of games to the public to play FOR FREE.
Sunday
A quieter day than the Saturday but that was what I needed anyway. I took the opportunity to try the classic arcade and geeez the games on there were a lot harder than I remembered as a child! I was brutally humbled while attempting to play through old school classics like pac-man, centipede, and space invaders.
I then had the pleasure of introducing a couple of new people to the wonderful world of board games. We ended up playing Splendor as a nice gateway game, followed by Ticket to Ride London edition.
Conclusion
An incredibly fun weekend was had. I wish Geek Retreat Addlestone every success and same with Syeknom Games.
Mission complete – Overlord Drakow signing out.